Minnesota Blizzard weekly summary
November 29, 2004 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Alexandria Blizzard News Release
(Alexandria, MN) The Minnesota Blizzard completed just one of their two scheduled games this past week. Friday night, the Fargo-Moorhead Jets handed the Blizzard a 6-2 loss. The two teams played about 25 minutes of their scheduled game Saturday night, before the game was called, due to unsafe ice conditions.
Friday, 11/26/04: The first game of the holiday weekend began well for the Blizzard. Owning a man-advantage, Shawn Bitzan (Alexandria, MN) scored to put Minnesota on top, with assists going to Ryan Hawkins (Eden Prairie, MN) and Karl Larsen (Princeton, MN). However, that power-play goal in the opening period would be all the scoring for the Blizzard, until the final canto. Fargo-Moorhead tied the game late in the first period, then put four pucks past Blizzard goalie Marcus Paulson (Eden Prairie, MN) in the second stanza. Hawkins tallied for Minnesota at 1:26 of the third period, to cut the Jets' lead to 5-2. Dan McCauley (Blaine, MN) assisted on the play. However, Fargo-Moorhead would answer that score, to make the final 6-2. Six different players lit the lamp for Fargo-Moorhead, while Jets' Forward Chris Myhro tallied assists on four of the six goals. The gate to the penalty box opened far too frequently for the Blizzard, as the club was penalized 12 times for 35 minutes, compared to 15 minutes on six infractions for the Jets. Fargo-Moorhead scored three of its six goals on the power play.
Saturday, 11/27/04: This contest marked the second "neutral site" game of the month for the Blizzard, as they traveled to the Stern Sports Arena in Wahpeton, North Dakota, to provide opposition for Fargo-Moorhead. The Jets used this game as part of a fund-raiser, for capital improvements to the Stern Arena, while also earmarking proceeds to the Breckenridge-Wahpeton Hockey Association. It gave residents in the southern part of the Red River Valley to enjoy the faster style of Junior Hockey. Needless to say, the fans only got a limited taste of the action. The Jets scored twice in the opening period, and led, 2-0 with 13:33 to go in the second period, when the game was stopped. It was determined that a segment of the ice sheet, less than six square feet, was breaking down, exposing concrete below the ice surface. The arena crew spent nearly 45 minutes, to patch that segment up, then resurface the ice with a pair of zambonis. However, the officials felt that the patch-work was not sufficient enough, to make the ice surface safe to resume playing. Much to the exasperation of the Jets staff, and to the shock of the patrons at the game, the contest was called, shortly after 9:00 PM, with unsafe ice being the culprit. The game will be made up at a later date. It is not certain when that make-up date will be, or where the game will be played.
Ahead, for the Blizzard: The team will make its first long journey of the season, into the Mountain time zone, to play four games in five days. All four games will take place in Montana. The Billings Bulls will host Minnesota Wednesday, December 1st, with game time set for 8:05 PM, Central time. Two nights later, the Blizzard will square off with the Bozeman Icedogs, in the Valley Ice Garden at 8:05. Then, Minnesota makes its first visit of the year to Helena, to play the Bighorns at 8:05 Saturday night. The Montana swing will conclude, with a Sunday afternoon matinee in Billings, at 4:05. All four games will be aired on the radio, through KMGK-FM, Glenwood, at 107.1 on the dial, in West-Central Minnesota.
Holiday shopping? Remember the Blizzard on-line store! One of the newest features of the Minnesota Blizzard web site is an on-line store, featuring attractive Minnesota Blizzard clothing, along with toys, gifts for the home or office, and more. If you purchase $50.00 or more in Blizzard merchandise through the on-line store before November 30th, you can save $5.00 on your order! If you are not yet at the Blizzard web site, click on the "On-line Store" link, at www.minnesotablizzard.com.
That's all, folks! I'll talk to you on the radio this week from the Mountain time zone, and have some jottings for you, after the return from Montana next week.
North American Hockey League Stories from November 29, 2004
- Jets Win on Road, Wahpeton Game Suspended - Fargo-Moorhead Jets
- Minnesota Blizzard weekly summary - Alexandria Blizzard
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